Private Party (11 page)

Billy-Boy has always loathed farm chores, until his father employs Jamie, a sexy farm worker, for the summer. Suddenly Billy has not just a work mate but a buddy, who is cheerful and enthusiastic company. Being with Jamie completely eclipses the burden of the chores. They even become a pleasure. After all Jamie looks like David Cassidy and likes to work shirtless!

But Billy’s idyll with Jamie proves all too brief as other people intrude and interfere. Belinda Pepper, the most notorious girl in the entire district, utterly enthrals him with her wicked ways. Then Lou, Billy’s estranged cousin, discovers Jamie and goes all-out to win him away from Billy for herself.

But Billy is not the only one who feels lonely, jealous and frustrated…

With something illicit growing in an abandoned toilet, clandestine goings-on down at the old gaol, a bloody murder, and a theatrical finale with a dozen costume changes, Billy-Boy’s life is even more dramatic than his favourite TV show
Lost in Space
.

‘ If I knew fifty ways of saying fabulous, I’d use them all to praise this charming first novel.’ EDMUND WHITE

‘It has the fast-running clarity of a good yarn, yet this is a fresh telling of the story of a gay awakening. Infinitely real … grotesque and funny and moving by turns.’ PETER WELLS

‘A wonderful cast of characters, lovingly drawn and lightened with the right dash of maliciousness … Aitken manages to make something extraordinary out of the ordinary … (and) shows so much skill and gives so much pleasure.’ CAMPAIGN

‘
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous
is an honest, funny and sometimes painful read. Confidently and convincingly written, it is a welcome addition to the gay coming of age genre; the collection of works in which we see ourselves reflected and refracted, and find fifty ways of saying “me”.’ MELBOURNE STAR OBSERVER

‘… one of the very best novels released this year. Witty, warm and original.’ CLEO

‘… a secret and magic story which is grotesque and infinitely funny … a zany book, highly entertaining, and with enough twists and turns to keep you glued to the end …
50 Ways
is fabulous, whichever way you say it.’ BARFLY

Meet ‘the Marks’.

It was strange at first for Mark, dating a guy with the same first name as him. But ‘the Marks’ developed nicknames for each other. Mark became ‘Top Mark’, a sly nod to his role in the bedroom.

But after seven years together, Mark hasn’t had much opportunity to be on top lately. There have been a lot of conversations avoided, unexplained absences, and some very unsettling phone calls.

From the author of the very popular Sydney based ebook series
The Indignities
comes this new e-book short. In his trademark sexy style, Graeme Aitken explores the intricacies of a modern gay relationship with wit, insight and empathy.

Private Party
is the second book in the three book series entitled 
The Indignities
.

The other titles in the series are
Time to Upsize
 (Book One) and 
Me, Myself and Someone Else
 (Book Three).

This series was originally published as one single volume entitled 
The Indignities
 by Clouds of Magellan Press (Melbourne, Australia) in December 2010. 
The Indignities
 series is a sequel to the earlier novel 
Vanity Fierce 
(Random House Australia
)
.

Graeme Aitken is the author of three novels:
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous
(1995),
Vanity Fierce
(1998), and its sequel
The Indignities
(2010). He also edited
The Penguin Book of Gay Australian Writing
(2002). His most recent work is an ebook short
Top Mark
(2012).
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous
was adapted into a feature film by writer/director Stewart Main in New Zealand and had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005. Graeme was born and raised on a remote farm in Central Otago, New Zealand. This upbringing provided the background for his first novel
50 Ways
. Graeme has now lived in Sydney, Australia for twenty-eight years. For much of that time, he has worked as the manager/buyer of a small specialist bookshop. This position has complemented his work as a writer. He has also reviewed books for several Australian gay newspapers and magazines over the years. Graeme has served as DNA Magazine’s chief book critic for more than fifteen years now, since their first issue.

You can contact Graeme via his website, sign up for his newsletter, or keep up-to-date on his activities via social media.

Website:
http://graemeaitken.com/contact/

Twitter: 
https://twitter.com/_GraemeAitken

Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/AitkenGraeme

Author photograph – José Rincon Castro

50 Ways of Saying Fabulous
 (novel) – available in a two volume 20th anniversary edition ebook series (20Ten Books). The print edition can be obtained from The Bookshop Darlinghurst (see details below) or directly from the author.

Vanity Fierce
 (novel) – available as a printed book and ebook (Random House Australia, 1998).

The Indignities
 (novel) – available as a printed book (Clouds of Magellan, 2010) and a three part ebook series (20Ten Books, 2012). Note: this is a sequel to 
Vanity Fierce
.

Top Mark
 (ebook short) (20Ten Books, 2012)

Also available 
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous DVD
, a 2005 feature film adaptation of the novel, written and directed by Stewart Main.

Ebooks by Graeme Aitken are available from major ebook retailers (Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Google play, Nook etc).

The best bookshop to obtain print editions of titles by Graeme Aitken or the 
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous DVD
 is The Bookshop Darlinghurst, 207 Oxford St, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia. They will mail order anywhere in the world.

Website –
http://www.thebookshop.com.au/brands/Graeme-Aitken.html

Email – [email protected]

50 Ways of Saying Fabulous
 (novel)

‘If I knew fifty ways of saying fabulous, I’d use them all to praise this charming first novel.’ Edmund White

‘A sort of gay Adrian Mole … There are laughs aplenty but also moments of agony … Told with bare-faced honesty, it is a warm, cruel, funny tale.’ The Sunday Age (London)

‘Touching and sad, 
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous
 also has some very funny moments.’ The Times (London)

‘A gentle, poignant story of a fat boy who fantasises romance and glamour without yet having a name for what he is … Aitken writes with a distinctive voice, one that is wonderfully evocative.’ Dennis Altman, The Age (Melbourne)

Vanity Fierce
 (novel)

‘A deceptively engaging read; a thoroughly modern satire of urban ghetto lifestyles … peppered with characters both pungent and picaresque, it’s something of an antipodean Bildungsroman.’ Gay Times (London)

‘Required reading … Aitken’s depictions are real to the point of recognition. Light, funny, and a great holiday read.’ Time Out (London)

‘The evil yet somehow natural jealousy that one feels when scorned in love is captured with alarming accuracy … 
Vanity Fierce
 has the easy appeal of a soap opera, but the depth and wit one expects from a first class writer.’ QX Magazine (London)